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Attack on Raymond Short
Raymond Short, a surfer and resident of Australia, was attacked on February 13, 1966 by a great white shark. The attack, taking place at Coledale Beach, Australia, remains one of the more unusual shark attacks currently known. The Attack On February 13, 1966, a then 13-year old Raymond was surfing at Coledale, and was about to catch one last wave before retiring for the day. As he swam out, a 7-foot, 300-pound female great white shark bit him on his left thigh before releasing him. Realizing what was happening, Raymond looped around to swim back to shore, only for the shark to seize him again. As the shark clamped onto his right leg, Raymond began to scream for help, kicking up blood, water and sand in the waist-deep water. As members of the Coledale Surf Life Saving Club rushed to his aid, the rescuers were unaware that the shark was still attached to Short's leg. Upon Short revealing the shark was still attached to him, the rescuers were faced with a drastic choice; they had to carry both shark and victim up onto the beach. Once ashore, one man repeatedly bashed the great white over the head with a surfboard to make the shark release its grip, as no one could pry it off of Raymond's leg. This eventually caused the creature to relax its grip, and as they were about to transport shark and boy to the hospital, the shark released Raymond. Raymond's rescuers then loaded him into a panel van and rushed him to the nearby Coledale Hospital, where both his left and badly mauled leg were saved. Aftermath and Possible Cause for the Attack Raymond made a full recovery and has gone on to live a normal life. He later revisited the spot of his attack on November 7, 2013 and visited many who had saved him during the local Surf Club's centenary celebration dinner. The shark meanwhile, did not survive. As it was dragged ashore still attached to Raymond, it later died of suffocation. The shark's behavior and unusual attack became well noted among experts. The young great white shark was examined in a necropsy, which revealed it was badly injured and unable to to hunt normally. The scar the shark possessed was a long wound on its underbelly, which interfered with and weakened the animal, forcing it to hunt prey it would normally avoid. That the shark, which normally would hunt bony fish and smaller sharks and rays during this stage of its life would be driven to attack a human is indicative of its desperation. It is one of the few recored attempts of predation or attempted predation on a human by a great white. In Popular Culture Raymond Short's attack has been mentioned in many books and documentaries, not least among them "Great White Shark" by Richard Ellis. It was also a major focus of the Discovery Channel documentary Rogue Sharks, which was an episode featured as part of Shark Week's 25th anniversary line-up. Category:Chondrichthyes Category:Shark Attacks